There is a worldwide interest in capturing and sequestering or reusing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to stabilize the climate. Aqueous amine processes, widely used throughout the natural gas industry to reduce CO2 from gas streams via chemical reaction, represent the benchmark by which CO2 capture technologies are evaluated (NETL, Carbon Sequestration Technology Roadmap and Program Plan (2007); Rochelle, G. T., “Amine Scrubbing for CO2 Capture,” Science, 325:1652-1654 (2009)). While effective at reducing CO2 from gas streams, amine processes are highly energy intensive, with much of the energy penalty attributed to boiling water during amine regeneration. Thus, aqueous amine processes will inherently suffer from large energy penalties. However, new solvents with little or no volatility can provide the desired energy efficiency.
Aqueous amines processes can suffer due to the relatively high vapor pressure of the amine compounds. Additionally, many of the amines utilized for carbon capture might not be cost effective. Other strategies, such as the use of N-functionalized imidazoles (see Bara, J. E., WO 2012135178 A1, (2011)) or imido-acid salts (see Bara, J. E., U.S. Publication No. US 20130143939 A1 (2011)), have been previously suggested for CO2 capture and storage.
What are still needed are new systems for capturing CO2 and other volatile compounds. The compounds and methods disclosed herein address these needs.